There have been numerous patents addressing the problem of animals inflicting self injury by biting, scratching, or chewing themselves. U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,530 teaches a protective collar which is a dish like structure having a central hole through which the animal's head passes. The protective collar is supported by a conventional animal collar which attaches to the dish like structure with laces. Such a protective collar must be placed over the head of the animal making it difficult to place it in position on an active animal. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,036,554 and 4,200,057 employ a split protective collar and thus, will simplify the process of placing the protective collar around the neck of the animal. The protective collar of the '554 patent employs round holes which are aligned and fastened together. The '554 patent illustrates a folding metallic strip and suggests a lace as fasting means. The '057 patent suggests stapling and riveting as fastening means. These means will either make it difficult to attach a protective collar around an animal's neck and/or be difficult to remove the protective collar from the neck without damaging the protective collar. U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,764 discusses the prior art protective collars and means for holding such collars in place. The '764 patent points out that interlocking tabs, shapes, lacings, and the like have been used and points out such closure mechanisms are cumbersome and time-consuming to use. The '764 patent teaches a protective collar which overcomes some of the problems of the earlier fasteners by providing a hook and pile fastener; however, this substantially reduces the range of sizes that the protective collar can use once the fastening material is applied to the protective collar. Thus, there is a need for a simple fastening means which can be easily attached and removed.
Furthermore, while patents like the '530 patent teach the use of a conventional animal collar in combination with the protective collar, the connection is complex and requires additional elements to lash the two collars together. The problem of connection between a protective collar and a conventional animal collar has been overcome in part by providing holes in the protective collar. This solution does not allow the conventional animal collar to be readily adjusted to provide a snug comfortable fit.